Guardian
by iMissa
Summary: Zero is trying to get things done; Yuuki is procrastinating. Pray for Zero's soul. ZeroYuuki.


**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, don't own Vampire Knight. If I did...well, I'm sure you can guess what couple would reign supreme.**

**Dedication: Sam, my love, who ships MadaKishi with me, discusses how much we hate Kaname, and flails with me over Gintama (BAZOOKAS FTW!), Naruto, Absolute Boyfriend, and Shinobi Life. I luffers you, darling.**

**A/N- Written for Annie's challenge. In case you're wondering, these were the prompts that I chose:**

"Ever heard of knocking?"

Stilettos

Pineapples

Bubble wands

Butterflies

"Since when do you wear glasses?"

"Can you tie this for me?"

"I believe in reincarnation. I bet you used to be Hitler."

"Yeah, you heard me."

"I actually prefer daises."

**Also, the changes of tense in this ARE intentional.**

* * *

When Zero finally finds her, she is sitting on the counter, swinging her legs and sticking her fingers inside of a bowl, a can of 'Freshly Sliced Pineapples' sitting next to her. Indeed, his suspicions are confirmed when she comes up with the yellow fruit, sticking the slice into her mouth and chewing slowly.

"Yuuki." He deadpans, and she jumps, turning her head to the right.

"Zero!" She greets brightly, then tilts her head. "Since when do _you _wear glasses?"

Zero scowled, taking the optics off the bridge of his nose and stuffing them in his back pocket. "I need them for reading." His eyes narrow at her. "Yuuki, you _do _realize that the ball is in forty-five minutes, right?"

"Yeah." She chirped happily, grabbing another pineapple from the bowl. He sighed, sitting down in the chair and watching her. "Want one?" She asks, but he shakes his head, and she eats it instead, pouting when she discovers that there aren't any more.

Yuuki hops off the counter, grabbing the bowl and putting it into the sink, then beginning to wash it.

"_Yuuki."_

"Zero." She mocks back, grinning as she lathers up a sponge. "Relax. I already took a bath, so all I have to do is get dressed and then I'll be done. Besides, it's not as if the ball is _so _far." She teases, and Zero makes a face at her. _Why _was he friends with her, again? Why did he even KNOW her?

_I want these gentle hands…and this kind smile…even though I should not want such a thing._

Oh yeah.

He is interrupted from his musings of his best friend/girl-whom-he-is-in-love-with by Yuuki's squealing. He looks at her, watching as she soaps up the sponge more and then blows the bubbles off.

"Yuuki," he begins, patience beginning to wear thin like a stretched piece of gum, "the ball is in a half-hour. You are standing there _blowing bubbles. _I will buy you a MILLION of those little bubble-blowing things if you would just _hurry up_."

The brown-eyed female turned around and gave him The Look. "Those _bubble blowing things _are called _bubble wands_, you butthead. Get it right, and I WILL be ready, as soon as I finish washing this bowl."

"Did you just call me a butthead?" Zero decided to ignore the exaggerated slowness that Yuuki was now using to wash the bowl or else he might break something.

Yuuki smirked at him. "I did. What're you gonna do about it?" He simply scowled at her, leaning against the wall and staring at her. Her smirk widened. "Exactly." She turned off the water, wiped her hand on a dish towel, and walked past him, heading to her room. Sighing, he followed her, branching off into his own room.

He glanced into the mirror, then away, relaxing his hand from the fist it had formed so as to not be tempted to smash the mirror into a thousand pieces, disgust for what he had become fueling his fury.

"Zeroooo." Yuuki sang, opening his door and walking inside. Zero glanced at her.

"Ever heard of knocking?" He asked sarcastically. Yuuki smiled at the silver-haired male, coming to stand beside him and fixing her hair in the mirror. He watched as she re-adjusted the two barrettes in her hair, then noticed that they were sparkly, silver butterflies. Which made sense, he supposed, since Yuuki's dress was white, but still, it reminded him of his hair.

_Just like how Yuuki's last dress for the other ball reminded him of blood, like the blood that he took from her that she so freely gave._

_Stop that,_ he told himself firmly, turning his attention back to Yuuki, who was looking at him in frustration. He gave her back a blank look. "What?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" She narrows her eyes at him. "I said, can you tie this for me?" She uses her left hand to point to where her thumb and pointer finger on her right hand are holding up the dress.

Zero blinks. "Were you holding that up when you came into the room?"

Yuuki shakes her head. "No, but they were only crossed loosely, so that they wouldn't fall off on my way here."

Zero pictures all of the boys who must've been eyeballing those loosely-tied straps and stuffs his hands into his pockets so that he wouldn't go out there and slaughter every male in the Day Class. (And possibly the Night one as well, just because they're there and he hates them.)

"Zero!" He raises an eyebrow at her. "You can't tie my dress if your hands are in your pockets, and _you _were the one on my case about getting dressed, so c'mon, can you tie this for me so we can leave?"

He sighs, fingers rising to tie the straps to her dress. His fingers brush against her neck, and involuntarily, Yuuki shivers. He is staring at her neck while he does this, and can feel his pupils dilating, focusing on the creamy expanse of it. He breaks his attention away before his restraint can be shattered and he shoves her against his wall, taking her blood from her like the monster he is.

"Done." He steps back from her, very far, a feat that does not go unnoticed by his female companion.

"Zero?" She asks, taking a step towards him, but he moves farther back and turns his head to ignore the hurt look that crosses her face.

"You shouldn't be wearing that dress." He says shortly, to cover up the pain he just cost her. It seems he is incapable of hurting her emotionally, because her pain hurts him, too. "You'll have guys staring at you and then they're going to think you're a high-class whore or something, instead of the Headmaster's daughter." Yuuki scowls deeply at this. "Honestly, Yuuki, don't you have a shawl or something? Here, wait." He crosses the room, opening his closet and shuffling through the uniforms and various other articles of clothing he owns.

"Y'know, I believe in reincarnation. I bet you used to be Hitler. I mean, with the way you're ordering me around, I should salute you." And she proceeds to do just that. Zero shoots her a glare out of the corner of his eye, searching for something that won't clash with her dress. (Girls are, after all, awfully picky about matching.) Yuuki smirks at him. "Yeah, you heard me. General Kiryuu." She giggles, then starts laughing, and Zero pauses in his hunt, simply standing there and listening to her, feeling the irritation drain away.

"Hush, Yuuki. Here." He throws a black jacket at her, and quirking an eyebrow in amusement, she does so. It is the same length as her dress.

"Zero, what the _hell_, why are you so tall?!" She whines, taking off the jacket and folding it across her arm.

Zero smirked as he passed her. "I'm not tall, you're just a midget."

"OY! ZERO, GET BACK HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!" Yuuki yelled, and Zero's smirk widened as he continued walking. He felt Yuuki's presence as she ran after him, and heard her shriek. His reflexes kicked in and he grabbed her arm, straightening her before she could fall.

"Be more careful next time." His heart thudded wildly in his chest, though his face showed only apathy. He moved his hand so it was on her lower back, balancing the brown-haired female. She smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Zero. It's just these stilettos," his eyes looked down to the white high-heeled shoes, "I can't walk in them."

"Tch, idiot. Why didn't you wear normal shoes?" They continued walking, and Zero kept his hand on her lower back, fearful that she'd fall again.

"They went with my dress." She pouted. Zero sighed, pushing her a little to continue walking. "I wonder if Kaname-sempai is going to be there…"Yuuki wondered aloud, and didn't notice the way Zero stiffened.

"Most likely." He said through clenched teeth; just the merest _mention _of the dark-haired male was enough to make Zero's blood boil.

When they finally made it to the ball Yuuki was immediately swept into a hug by her father. "Yuuki, you made it!" He cried, tears dripping from his eyes. "Ah, you look so beautiful!"

"H--Father!" Yuuki chokes out, and Zero eyes them, wondering whether or not he should burst out into laughter or help her. "C-can't breathe!"

"Oh! Sorry." The Headmaster smiles sheepishly and lets go of the dark-haired female. "You really do look nice." He goes to pat her hair but he notices that it's up, so he settles for placing a hand on her shoulder. "Anyway, I'm gonna go survey the ball. You two enjoy yourselves, alright?" With a smile he is gone, leaving Yuuki and Zero to stand there in the foyer.

Yuuki turns to him, smiling. "Zero--"

"Yuuki."

Zero stiffens at the all-too-familiar voice, and like a persistent cold, Kaname is there. "Kaname-sempai!" Yuuki exclaims, and her smile widens. Zero feels something sharp pierce him in the left side of his chest at the sight.

"I'm gonna go patrol the grounds." He mutters and turns around, striding away from Yuuki and Kaname.

Once outside he feels like he can breathe properly, and instead of patrolling he decides to just walk. His feet carry him around the grounds, past walls and classrooms until he passes by the garden. He slows, staring at the flowers swaying gently in the breeze, and he feels the hairs on his arm rise as the wind blows through his clothing. It is spring, and no matter what, nights are always cold.

The moonlight even feels cold, empty, providing him no relief. He hopes Yuuki is warm, at least.

His eyes close, the same suffocating feeling creeping over him whenever he thinks of Yuuki; her smile, her smell, her _blood_…

Zero's eyes snap open, revulsion overflowing the cold, and his sights are immediately captured by a patch of white roses, illuminated by the moonlight. His first thought is: those roses would look good in Yuuki's hair; they'd match her dress. His second thought is: I shouldn't even be thinking that.

However, before he can stop himself, think of all the repercussions and the rules to himself he is breaking, he is crossing the sidewalk and onto that patch of flowers, plucking a rose with his long fingers. He twirls it, watching the petals ripple.

He is aware of her presence before he hears her calling for him. He turns his head, watching as she walks towards him--not runs, because _he _chases after _her_, not the other way around--and she gives him a smile. "Zero, what are you doing? I thought you'd be _patrolling_, not picking flowers." She is teasing him, but he does not crack a smile.

"Come back inside, it's cold out here." She is cold, he can tell. Wordlessly, rose still clutched in his hand, he takes his jacket gently from where it is _still _folded across her arm and drapes it around her shoulder. She smiles at the gesture and takes his hand--the one with the rose in it.

She raises their linked hands, curiosity lighting her eyes, and carefully takes the flower from his possession. "What's this?" He gives her a deadpan stare, and she merely raises an eyebrow. "I asked you a question, Zero."

"It's a flower." He says, voice flat, because he will not admit that he was thinking of Yuuki when he removed it from the ground. Yuuki, however, has always manages to see past his pretenses--except for the one that matters most: that he loves her, has always loved her, and she is not just a best friend to him, she is _everything _to him--and she grins.

"_Zero," _He is _not _blushing; his skin is just red from the cold. Yeah. "Is this for me?"

She smiles, then puts the rose behind her ear, and he notices that it does, in fact, look good on Yuuki, just like he knew it would.

"You're so sweet, Zero." She engulfs him in a hug, her head resting on his chest (because that is the only place she can reach) and he does not want this moment to go away, for this little piece of heaven that he _doesn't _deserve but can't help wanting anyway to stay, and so he wraps his arms around her and rests his forehead on top of her head, breathing in her scent.

_She smells like coming home._

Yuuki tilts her head up a little, and he can feel her breath ghosting against his ear. "But, just between you and me, I prefer daisies." Zero lifts his head to stare down at her, and Yuuki gazes up at him, a half-smile formed on her face, and the sight is so precious that Zero's heart hurts. He'd do anything to keep that smile on her face.

Yuuki leans up on her tip-toes, and their faces are so close, as close as they had been when Zero was going to kiss Yuuki after he had the nightmare that he had killed her. And for a moment, her eyes are startlingly clear and brilliant and bright and _beautiful_, and then she tilts her head, and she kisses him on the cheek. Her lips linger a few seconds too long, and Zero's heart is thumping against his chest so furiously that he thinks Yuuki can feel it, before she is pulling back--he refuses to believe that she is blushing. Her skin must be red from the cold, too--and she smiles at him, catching his hand in hers once more.

"Come on, Zero. Let's go." She tugs on his hand, and he follows her as they go back to the ball, because that is how they work.

He should not be hopeful, he knows, because that will only lead to being disappointed and he is so sick, _so sick_, of feeling that way, that everything he does is a failure, that _he _is a failure…

But perhaps, this time, it's okay to hope; after all, throughout the entire duration of the ball, Yuuki has not let go of his hand.


End file.
